"You don't want the Fed to be a direct player in so many markets, because by definition their incentives are noncommercial," El-Erian said. "So it's in the interest of the market to have the Fed gradually—and the critical word is 'gradually'—step back to the sideline and act as a referee, not as a referee and a player."

Briefly, PIMCO's El-Arian, like Warren Buffett, sees little to no positive economic activity at the end-user level. More are coming back to the notion that though we may have stopped the massive decline, the rebound from these lower levels is practically non-existent.

We need to accustom ourselves to the reality that economic numbers during the credit bubble of the last decade were artificial, and were symptomatic of the easy-money policies of Greenspan and later Bernanke. The lower levels that we're experiencing now are the new 'normal'. Get used to it.

Europe’s debt problem is indeed a headwind for what remains a disappointing US economic recovery. It dampens America’s export prospects, can raise the cost of borrowing for some American companies and diminishes an already low enthusiasm among banks to lend to households and small companies.

Having said that, it is unlikely, though not inconceivable, that Europe’s debt crisis would constitute a “Lehman Moment” — a situation that totally paralyzes American economic activity, puts the country on the verge of a depression and triggers yet another round of extreme crisis management measures.